Waste Not Shredder Bag

ABSTRACT

A bag that is made out of paper, recycled paper or paper-based material is designed in appropriate sizes and shapes to fit a variety of paper shredder machines in order to efficiently collect the paper shreddings which are output from such a machine so that the container and its contents can be directly placed into the paper-recycling stream without additional time and labor spent separating the paper contents from what currently is typically a plastic bag or rigid container. The preferred embodiment is designed with peel and stick adhesives on the top flaps to close the top with a double layer of flaps, to better secure the contents against spillage and theft, and integrated handles provide for more convenient transfer of the container and contents from the paper shredder machine, ideally to a paper-recycling destination.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

NAMES TO A PARTY TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

Not Applicable

REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING A TABLE OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISC APPENDIX

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Paper shredders have become an important piece of equipment found in both in commercial offices and increasingly in private homes. Not only does the use of paper shredders reduce the risk of theft of information, but they also enable the efficient removal of old unneeded records, letters, envelopes, etc.

The Waste Not Shredder Bag is a bag constructed from paper, Class 383, designed to capture and contain the shredded paper output from home, municipal, and commercial paper shredder machines. The bag will have overlapping flaps and peel-and-stick adhesive strips to encapsulate the contents securely when the bag is closed. Thus, The Waste Not Shredder Bag provides a convenient, properly sized, and secure container made of paper or paper based material that, with the shredded paper contents, can be closed neatly and securely and directly recycled in a paper recycling waste stream.

The inventor knows of no other such container that does not consist of an open plastic or metal receptacle, and or a plastic bag that either hangs alone or sits in the rigid plastic container. Plastic bags used to collect the paper output from shedders render the entire package nonrecyclable due to the mixture of plastic and paper or require use of otherwise more productive time to separate the paper from the plastic. As a result it is typical that the plastic bags with shredded paper contents are simply put into a nonrecycling municipal waste stream, that is, out with the trash. According to sources, only 56% of paper in the US was recycled in 2007, meaning 42.7 million tons went to landfill, or was incinerated generating greenhouse gas, such as carbon dioxide and possibly emitting other toxic components due to the chemical compositions of the various inks used on paper. It's estimated that between 35 and 45% of all municipal waste comes from businesses and that 93% of office waste by weight is paper, most of which can be recycled. If one assumes this is mostly paper waste, and assumes an conservatively low density of 0.7 g/cc, the compacted volume of this unrecycled paper would fill 10 full football fields to a height equal to that of the Empire State Building each year! This effect could easily be mitigated by collecting shredded paper in collection bags constructed of paper and recycling this refuse in a fully integrated package.

These plastic bags are often common kitchen trash bags, often oversized and wasteful of the excess plastic material used. Rigid plastic containers also require time and effort to dump, even if the content paper shreddings are eventually placed in a paper-recycling stream.

Further, the paper shreddings handled in either of the current ways described above include fine paper dust, which some of both the pieces of shreddings and the paper dust often end up spilling on the floor and other areas around the shredder machine, again requiring time and labor to clean up.

Finally, paper shreddings disposed of either in plastic bags or dumped into larger recycling containers are easily accessible to anyone with the interest and effort to try to piece together any otherwise confidential information from collected shreddings of potentially valuable documents.

The Waste Not Shredder Bag is designed to replace non recycleable plastic bags so as to be able to place the paper container with paper shredding contents directly into the paper recycling stream, to better contain the shredder output to minimize time and labor spent on clean up of spilled shreddings and dust, and to keep the potentially valuable and confidential contents secure from malevolent intrusive activities.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The Waste Not Shredder Bag invention is a paper or paper based bag variously designed and sized to fit common paper shredder machines, which consists of a box-like receptacle into which the shredded paper falls directly, with attached side flaps and front and rear flaps that overlap when closed. Both the side flaps and the front and rear flaps have one or two peel-and-stick adhesive strips on each set of flaps that seal first the overlapping side flaps, and then the overlapping front and rear flaps creating a double layered sealed top over the box-like paper bag receptacle

Further, one or both of the front and rear flaps will have an L crease creating a proximal and distal area where the overlapping proximal portions provide the top layer of the double-layered closure. In the case of only one flap having distal and proximal areas, the distal area will contain an orifice that acts as a handle for the closed receptacle. In the case in which both flaps have a proximal and distal area, these will be designed to align adjacent to each other when said distal areas are folded up, said aligned orifices creating a single handle for carrying the closed paper bag receptacle. The corners and edges of the receptacle and the handle on the distal portion of the top flap(s) may be reinforced with added layers of paper or paper based material. Finally, the paper or paper based shredder bag container may be coated on the outside with a paper recycleable compatible wax or glycine coating to withstand external moisture, such as rain, when closed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The nature and mode of the operation of the present invention will now be more fully described in the following detailed description of the invention taken with the accompanying drawing Figures, in which:

FIG. 1 is the simplified design of a paper-constructed shreddings receptacle described in Claim 2 which uses only interlocking flaps to close over the contents. It lacks the adhesives and integrated handles of the preferred designs described in subsequent claims.

FIG. 2 is a side perspective view of the open container of the present invention with the novel features of adhesive flap sealers and integrated handles described in Claim 5; and,

FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of the closed container of the embodiment of the present invention described in Claim 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

At the outset, it should be appreciated that like drawing numbers on different drawing views identify identical structural elements of the invention.

While the present invention is described with respect to what is an embodiment of a rectangular receptacle of a specific height, it is understood that the invention is not limited to only this disclosed embodiment, but can be designed with varying heights, and with the receptacle being tapered, for example, at the bottom, to fit most effectively the design of the rigid containers specific to each of a variety of machines. The present invention is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. In all embodiments, it is intended that the paper bag shreddings container is to be fabricated from recyclable paper and paper based material, and, preferably, from post-recycled paper based material.

Adverting to the drawings, FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of open container 10 of the present invention. Bottom 11 (not seen in FIG. 2) is preferably flat and may be formed by the folding together and adhering of end portions of other elements of container 10 using methods well known to those skilled in the art. In one embodiment, bottom 11 is a rectangle. Two side panels 14 are attached to opposite edges of bottom 11. The term “attached” includes the embodiment in which side panel 14 is integral with bottom 11 and is distinguished from bottom 11 by a fold or crease. In a preferred embodiment, container 10 is fabricated from recyclable paper to provide the advantage of processing of the entire filled container and to avoid separate processing of container 10 and the paper shreddings.

Front panel 12 and rear panel 13 (not seen in FIG. 2) are attached to bottom 11 and are of equal size. Front panel 12, rear panel 13 and two side panels 14 are joined together along common edges 15 to form container 10. Side flaps 14 a are seen extending from side panels 14 above top edges 14 b. Side flaps 14 a are of sufficient length that they overlap when folded over the opening 40 of container 10. Preferably, both side flaps 14 a are of sufficient length that they each substantially cover the area of opening 40.

Front panel 12 and rear panel 13 each have a front top flap 12 a and a similar if not identical, rear top flap 13 a extending from the respective panels from edges 17. Both front top flap 12 a and rear top flap 13 a have an L-crease 12 b and 13 b, respectively that extends the length of the respective top flap. L-crease 12 b serves to divide front top flap 12 a into a front top flap proximal section 12 c and front top flap distal section 12 d. For rear top flap 13 a, L-crease 13 b serves to divide rear top flap 13 a into a rear top flap proximal section 13 c and front top flap distal section 13 d.

In one embodiment, one or both of distal sections 12 d and 13 d may define an orifice 20. One edge of orifice 20 is defined by the top edge of distal section 12 d. Similarly, an orifice 20 may be defined by the top edge of distal section 13 d.

In one embodiment, a strip of pressure sensitive adhesive 30 extends along the width of one or both of side flaps 14 a. In another embodiment, adhesive 30 is part of a “peel-and-stick” assembly well known to those having skill in the art Preferably, similar strips of adhesive 30 are found in one or both of proximal sections 12 c and 13 c and distal sections 12 d and 13 d. In an alternate embodiment, reinforcement 22 is placed along some or all the outer edges of top flaps 12 a and 13 a. Reinforcement 22 may comprise extra layers of paper for paper container 10 or extra stitching for a fabric container 10. Other reinforcement materials and methods will be known by those skilled in the art and be within the scope of the appended claims.

To collect shreddings, container 10 is placed under the shredding mechanism of a paper shredder with side flaps 14 a, top flaps 12 a, and 13 a folded away from the opening 40 of container 10 to allow the shreddings to fall into container 10 as they are produced. Preferably, container 10 will be sized to fit into a rigid shell that holds container 10 under a shredding mechanism without allowing container 10 to fall away, collapse, or otherwise move so as to fail to capture shreddings as they are generated.

When container 10 is full, adhesive 30 on side flap 14 a is exposed, side flaps 14 a are folded over the opening of container 10, and adhesive 30 is pressed into opposing side flap 14 a to enable both side flaps 14 a to be held in place over the opening to container 10. Front flap 12 a is folded along L-crease 12 b so that proximal section 12 d covers and is adjacent to about one-half of the width of folded side flaps 14 a. Similarly, rear flap 13 a is folded along L-crease 13 b so that proximal section 13 d covers and is adjacent to about one-half the width of folded side flaps 14 a thereby forming a double-layered closure. In one embodiment, strips of adhesive 30 along the length of proximal sections 12 c and/or 13 c act to hold proximal sections 12 c and 13 c against side flaps 14 a to form a closure that lacks external openings. By external openings is meant an opening that extends from the container interior holding the shreddings directly to outside container 10 such that the some or all of the shreddings could be lost from container 10 after proximal sections 12 c and 13 c are folded over closed side flaps 14 a.

After proximal sections 12 c and 13 c are folded over side flaps 14 a, distal sections 12 d and 13 d are folded along L-creases 12 b and 13 b, respectively, to place them adjacent to each other and extending away from proximal sections 12 c and 13 c. In a preferred embodiment, adhesive 30 may be pressed into the opposing distal section to hold the two distal sections together. In one embodiment, orifices 20 on each distal section are aligned to form a common orifice that may be used as a handle.

FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of closed container 10. Proximal sections 12 c and 13 c are seen folded down over folded side flaps 14 a (not shown in FIG. 3.) Distal sections 12 d and 13 d are seen adhering to each other and extending away from folded proximal sections 12 c and 13 c, respectively. Aligned orifices 20 form a handle for easier carrying of container 10. It can be seen that no external openings are present in the folded container, thereby providing a container able to hold the small pieces of paper and plastic shreddings without allowing them to escape from the container.

Thus it is seen that the various facets of the invention are efficiently integrated, and the objectives of its design Well met. Although various changes and modifications to the invention may be readily apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art, any such changes would not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed. 

1. A paper based shredder bag, made from any recyclable paper, including recycled paper, to contain shredded waste from paper shredder machines, comprising: a bottom; a front panel and a rear panel, said front panel and said rear panel attached to opposite sides of said bottom and having substantially the same size, and with a front top flap attached to a top edge of said front panel and a rear top flap attached to a top edge of said rear panel; a pair of side panels, each one of said pair of side panels having the same size and attached to opposite sides of said bottom, each of said side panels having a side flap extending from a top edge of each of said pair of side panels; wherein the length of each of said pair of side flaps is sufficient to overlap each other when folded over the opening of said bag; and, the length of each of said front and rear flaps is sufficient to overlap each other when folded over the perpendicularly overlapped side flaps; and, each set of flaps can be manually taped down with commercial adhesive tape to secure a double layered closure which lacks external openings.
 2. The container as in claim 1 in which said side flaps have half cuts through opposite sides of said side flaps that interlock when folded down and overlapped over the opening of the bag; and said front and rear top flaps also have half cuts through opposite sides of said side flaps that interlock when folded down and overlapped perpendicularly over the overlapping and interlocked side flaps creating a double layer of interlocked perpendicular sets of flaps which can also be manually taped down with commercial adhesive tape.
 3. The bag as in claim 1 further comprising: peel-and-stick adhesive attached to at least one side of each set of said pairs of side flaps, and said front and rear flaps, to create a double layered top seal without any manually added adhesive.
 4. The bag in claim 3 further comprising: an L-crease formed in either one of said front or rear top flaps between said attachment to said front or rear panels, respectively, and the top edge of the respective top flap, said L-crease dividing said respective top flap into a proximal and a distal section; wherein the peel and stick adhesive on the top L-creased flap is located on the proximal area of said flap; and said distal section containing an orifice; wherein said respective top flap is folded along said L-crease so as to fold said proximal section directly over at least said side flaps, and possibly the other top flap to form a two layer closure of said opening of said bag; wherein said top distal section with said orifice extends away from said double layer closure and provides a single layer carrying handle for the closed paper bag.
 5. The bag in claim 3 further comprising: an L-crease formed in said front or rear top flap between said attachment to said front or rear panel, respectively, and the top edge of the respective top flap, said L-crease dividing said respective top flap into a proximal and a distal section; and an L-crease formed in said rear top flap between said attachment to said rear panel and a top edge of said rear top flap, said L-crease dividing said rear flap into a proximal and a distal section; and both front and rear top distal flaps contain orifices which will align with each other; wherein said front top flap and said rear top flap are each folded along said L-crease so as to fold each of said proximal sections directly over said side flaps to form a two layer closure of said opening of said bag wherein each of said front flap distal section and said rear flap distal section are adjacent to each other and extend away from said double layer closure, providing a double layered carrying handle for the closed paper bag.
 6. A paper based shredder bag as recited, with or without handles, further comprising: paper-recycling-compatible reinforcement along the outer corners of the side, front and rear panels with the bottom; and paper-recycling-compatible reinforcement along the outer edges between the side panels and the front and rear panels; and where a handle is part of the design, paper-recycling-compatible reinforcement around the orifice or orifices that define the handle of the paper bag shreddings container.
 7. A paper based shredder bag as recited in claim 6, further comprising: a paper-recycling-compatible wax or glycine coating to help the container withstand exposure to external moisture, such as rain. 